Obito's calm voice echoed inside the dim meeting hall.
"Not to mention..." A faint pause followed beneath the spiral mask. "I also possess another trump card—one that will be extremely effective against Uzushiogakure and the Uzumaki siblings."
Even the Deva Path slightly narrowed his eyes upon hearing that.
"Be ready to attack according to the plan we have established."
The moment Obito finished speaking, the space around his body immediately began distorting.
A spiraling vortex appeared around him as Kamui activated silently. Within moments, his body was completely swallowed by the distorted space, and he disappeared from the hall entirely.
Shortly afterward, White Zetsu and Black Zetsu also left.
The massive meeting room gradually became quiet once more.
Now, only Konan and the Deva Path remained inside the cold hall.
Rain continuously struck the metal exterior of Amegakure, creating a steady echo throughout the tower. Water trickled down the tall windows while distant thunder rumbled faintly in the sky above.
For a few moments, neither of them spoke.
Finally, after confirming everyone had truly left, Konan slowly looked toward the Deva Path and said in a low voice,
"Nagato... I truly have suspicions regarding the intentions of this so-called Madara Uchiha."
Her expression had become serious.
"I do not trust him."
The Deva Path remained silent briefly before replying calmly,
"We are already too deeply involved in this plan."
His Rinnegan remained emotionless as always.
"We have no choice now but to see this through until the end."
The atmosphere inside the room became heavier.
"We cannot afford internal suspicion and division at this stage. Not when we are preparing for a direct conflict against the Uzumaki clan."
At the mention of the Uzumaki clan, even Konan's expression slightly tightened.
She understood very well how dangerous the Uzumaki siblings had become over the years. Their military strength, sealing techniques, and growing influence had already reached a frightening level.
Still, Konan shook her head lightly.
"I still do not believe this Madara Uchiha."
A faint killing intent flashed through her calm eyes for a moment.
"I will keep watching him carefully."
The papers around her sleeves fluttered slightly from the leaking chakra in the air.
"And if he dares make any suspicious move..." her voice turned colder, "then I will not hesitate. To protect you, I will attack him with my full strength."
The Deva Path quietly listened to her words.
However, this time, he did not say anything in response.
Instead, he simply turned around and began walking away from the meeting hall slowly. Konan silently followed behind him as the sound of rain continued echoing throughout the tower.
Days continued passing one after another.
And almost one week later—
The war finally began moving.
Thousands upon thousands of White Zetsus emerged from hidden locations across different regions, while more than three thousand modified shinobi enhanced through Hashirama cells moved together with the main force.
The sheer scale of the army was enormous.
In total, more than twenty thousand White Zetsus and several thousand elite modified ninja had begun marching toward Konoha according to the prepared Akatsuki battle plan.
Such a massive military movement naturally could not remain hidden.
Konoha immediately detected the incoming threat.
Sensory divisions quickly relayed the information throughout the village, emergency alerts were raised, and preparations for war began almost instantly. Shinobi forces rapidly mobilized across the village while defensive formations were activated one after another.
And fortunately for Konoha—
They had already prepared thoroughly for this possibility.
Watch units increased around the borders, defensive barriers were reinforced, evacuation preparations began for civilians, and elite shinobi were immediately assigned to strategic positions.
At the same time, news of the Akatsuki army attacking Konoha rapidly spread throughout the ninja world.
The other major villages also received reports regarding the situation.
And strangely enough...
Several of them actually felt relieved after hearing the news.
After all, until now, every major village had suffered losses at the hands of Akatsuki. Their Tailed Beasts had been captured one after another, while Konoha had remained untouched the entire time.
Because of that, many villages had secretly become suspicious of Konoha itself.
Some even wondered whether Konoha possessed some hidden connection to Akatsuki.
However, those suspicions lessened considerably after hearing that Akatsuki had finally launched a direct attack against Konoha as well.
Of course, they also acknowledged another fact.
Konoha was extremely powerful.
The forces Akatsuki had previously used to raid other villages and capture their Tailed Beasts would not be sufficient to easily destroy Konoha.
After all, Konoha still possessed monsters like the Fourth Hokage, the Third Hokage, Jiraiya, Tsunade, Itachi, Shisui, Kakashi, and Might Guy.
And beyond that...
There was another extremely important factor.
Namikaze Naruto.
Everyone knew that Naruto was the nephew of the Uzukage and the beloved nephew of the Uzumaki siblings. Furthermore, being the son of Uzumaki Kushina, Naruto was also half-Uzumaki by blood.
Which meant one thing was absolutely certain in everyone's minds—
If Naruto was targeted, then Uzushiogakure would definitely enter the war as well.
Finally, Akatsuki and Konoha directly clashed against each other.
The long-awaited war had begun.
Soon, massive battles erupted across multiple locations surrounding the Land of Fire. The sound of explosions, clashing steel, and roaring ninjutsu echoed throughout the forests as the two forces collided violently.
Konoha had not waited for the enemy to reach the village itself.
At numerous checkpoints and strategic locations nearly twenty to thirty kilometers away from Konoha, defensive battlefields had already been established in advance. Trenches, barriers, hidden traps, and prepared formations covered different regions as Konoha shinobi intercepted the advancing Akatsuki forces before they could properly approach the village.
And once the two sides met—
Chaos exploded everywhere.
Different elite shinobi quickly found their respective opponents as the battlefield split into multiple fronts.
On one side of the battlefield, Might Guy directly faced Kisame.
The surrounding forest was already heavily damaged from their initial clash alone. Trees had shattered apart while the ground cracked under the pressure of their terrifying taijutsu and chakra collisions. Kisame swung Samehada wildly with monstrous strength while Guy continuously countered him head-on without fear.
Their battle was violent from the very beginning.
Elsewhere, Kakashi and his entire squad were facing Deidara alongside several Akatsuki forces.
Explosions continuously erupted across the battlefield as clay spiders and birds filled it. Smoke and fire spread everywhere while Deidara laughed from above, launching explosive creations downward without pause.
Meanwhile, Kakashi calmly coordinated the battlefield while countering the attacks with precise timing.
On another battlefield, Itachi and Shisui had each found terrifying opponents of their own.
Itachi faced Kakuzu.
The battlefield around them was eerily silent compared to the others, yet the pressure there was enough to suffocate ordinary shinobi. Kakuzu's multiple masked hearts continuously attacked from different directions while Itachi countered every move with frightening calmness.
Not far away, Shisui confronted Sasori.
Puppets filled the battlefield like a deadly army as poison-coated weapons flashed through the air endlessly. However, Shisui's body movement was so fast that afterimages continuously flickered across the battlefield, making it difficult even to track him properly.
Meanwhile, Fugaku personally fought against Hidan.
The clash between the two was brutal.
Hidan continuously laughed madly while swinging his massive scythe recklessly, whereas Fugaku fought with cold precision and overwhelming control.
At the same time—
Inside Konoha itself, Minato had remained behind.
And just as expected...
Obito had infiltrated the village.
However, Minato immediately intercepted him before any major damage could occur.
The moment the battle started, Minato intentionally redirected the battlefield toward the Forest of Death, far away from the civilian areas of Konoha. Yellow flashes continuously flickered through the dark forest as terrifying space-time fluctuations spread throughout the region.
The battle between teacher and student had begun once more.
Elsewhere, Jiraiya and Hiruzen were jointly leading the defense against one of the most dangerous sections of Akatsuki's forces.
More than fifteen hundred Hashirama Cells modified ninja had appeared on that battlefield alone.
And among them were numerous squad leaders whose combat strength could already be considered comparable to S-rank shinobi.
The battlefield there had become extremely chaotic.
Gigantic ninjutsu continuously exploded across the land while dozens of elite shinobi fought simultaneously. Trees collapsed one after another while flames, earth walls, water dragons, and wind blades filled the battlefield endlessly.
However, with the combined strength of Jiraiya, Hiruzen, and numerous elite Konoha shinobi, they were still able to firmly hold the line and keep those terrifying forces in check.
On the other side—
Just as Akatsuki had planned beforehand, Uzushiogakure was also attacked simultaneously.
And the attacks came from multiple directions.
Akatsuki's primary objective was simple—
Keep the Uzumaki siblings occupied no matter what.
If the Uzumaki siblings joined Konoha's battlefield directly, the balance of the war could completely collapse.
Because of that, Akatsuki launched coordinated assaults across different allied nations and vassal countries connected to Uzushiogakure.
However...
This was something Shanks had already predicted long ago.
And preparations had already been made.
Across different small countries under Uzushiogakure's protection, Akatsuki forces suddenly emerged one after another. Groups containing five hundred to one thousand Hashirama Cells modified ninja, combined with large numbers of White Zetsus, launched attacks simultaneously on different regions.
Villages and military outposts immediately sent emergency distress signals toward Uzushiogakure.
Soon after receiving the reports, the different Uzumaki siblings who had remained on standby immediately began mobilizing toward those countries to provide support.
One after another, powerful chakra signatures departed from Uzushiogakure at high speed.
The war was rapidly spreading across the entire region.
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